What powders have you had good luck with reloading the 223 remington? Do you prefer ball or extruded powder?

H-335 is what Stoner specified for the AR-15. This powder is optimal for cycling the gun and not fouling the gas mechanism.

Seems to be pretty accurate for 55 gr. and meters well. It's a spherical, double base.

I'm trying Varget with Sierra 69 gr. Match King BTHP. Accuracy is excellent with 1:9 rifling. Varget is single base extruded (short). Harder to meter than H-335. I measure this stuff for accurate loads. otherwise it varies 0.10 gr. from load to load in a RCBS Uniflow. It "catches" in the measure, also bridges in the neck of the case.

But Varget seems to be worth the extra trouble.

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PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:

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Hi JoeG
I use AR 2207 20gns with 55gn WinPSP.
This was the max load in the old powder guide
but in the latest guide the max load is 22gn.
It's burning rate is close to IMR 4198.
It is described in the powder guide as "a
single perforated tubular propellant of single base composition".
I find it an accurate load in my BLR. Lightning.
Regards
Deafdog

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deafdog@one.net.au
www.deafdog.one.net.au

I've had pretty good results with BL(C)-2
which is (I think)is classed as a ball powder. With 55grain Hornady SP, I can get 3/4" groups at 100m if I do my part. I used BL(C)-2 as it is recommended for my .308 as well.

[This message has been edited by Pete E (edited 04-29-2001).]

I like W748 and AA2460.

quote:

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Originally posted by JoeG:
What powders have you had good luck with reloading the 223 remington? Do you prefer ball or extruded powder?

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As the others post state H335 is great in my 223 with 52-55 grain bullets and 1/12twist bbl, W748 also works well in another with heavier bullets in a 1/9 as does the H335, use a good primer Rem 7 1/2 CCI,Federal ect and they burn clean and measure well for me, good luck and good shooting!!!!

Hey JoeG, One of the signs of a really well designed cartridge is that a good number of Powders work well in it. As you can see, the 223Rem meets that requirement.

My 223Rem is a 20" S&S M7. The two most accurate Powders in it are H4895 and H322(both Extruded). Good old WW748 and BL-C2(both Ball) seem to provide a bit more velocity if for some reason that is important.

When I'm shooting to see who buys the BBQ, out come the 50gr Nosler B-Tips or either of the 52gr/53gr Sierra MatchKings. These shoot better than I can hold now days, but if I get my concentration up, I can generally get them in the 3s-4s.

Probably the "Best Kept Secret" in 22cal bullets is the 50/55gr Rem PLHPs(and 80gr 0.243"). These are made from a formed Lead core with a plated-on jacket. (Always remind me of the excellent Speer Gold Dots.)

The 50gr Rem PLHP will shoot in the 6s-8s using randomly picked bullets for me. If anyone knows of a more accurate "inexpensive" 22cal bullet, I'd sure like to hear about it.

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Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core

[This message has been edited by Hot Core (edited 04-29-2001).]

My favorites are Varget, 25.4 grains, for an extremely consistent 2760 fps in a 20" barrel, and AA2015, 25 grains, for 3150 fps. In both cases, I'm using CCI primers and 55 grain bullets, and I'm neck forming the brass.

Varget does well and R-15 even a little better with heavy bullets in my AR.

JoeG -
With the 50 and 52/53 grainers -
Accurate 2015 and 2230-C, H322, Nobel SP10 and Ramshot's X-TERMINATOR. 2015 and H322 are extruded, the rest are ball type.

With 55 grain bullets -
W748, WC846, H335 and Ramshot TAC, all ball, R15, H4895 and Accurate 4064 (extruded).

The .223 is REALLY a fun cartridge to play with, isn't it? Hot Core is right - it seems to work with a bunch of different powders, and, it's hard to find a load that it doesn't like.

R-WEST

WC 844 is the surplus version of H-335. Both are exempliary in the .223 with 50 or 55 grain bullets. H4895 has also worked well for me. My Sako digests 27.5 grains of H335 under a 55 grain Sierra (either flat or boat tail) for about 3250 fps in military brass. This would be an overload in many guns, so work up carefully.

Just the other day I tried 26grs. of IMR 3031 and a 50gr. Speer TNT bullet and got groups that averaged just over 0.5". I only shot two groups so I don't know how it will do in the long run. It was all I wanted to do to get that much in the case but I can seat the bullets out pretty long so that helped alot. The velocity wasn't that great at 3139fps. at 10'. I have an 8lb. can of IMR 3031 so I thought why not. The rifle is a Winchester Mod 70 XTR Featherweight by the way.

I have been having trouble with WW748. My best load started piercing primers as soon as the weather got warmer. When I lowered the powder charge, the cases are very dirty from the powder residue.
This weekend I am trying a load with IMR 4064 and my normal 55 gr. FMJBT bullet. I hope this powder functions well in my semi auto rifle.

Today I tested a load with IMR 4064 with great success. I used CCI 400 primers, LC cases, IMR 4064 and a 55 gr. FMJBT bullet. I had great accuracy and even more important 100 reliability in my AR.
Success!

I like ball powders the best meter much better. When you are loading thousands of rounds it makes a big dif. in time saveing. I would go with bal c 2 h335 wc844 they all work just fine.

Little more info on Varget.

Checking Hodgdon's reload data page online I'm finding that Varget provides the highest velocities at the lowest working pressures.

In .223 with a 70 gr. bullet and 26.0 gr. charge, it's producing 3024 fps and 48,400 cup.

The data page compares Varget with H335, BL-C(2), H-322, H-4895.

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/index.htm

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PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:

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JoeG,

I got a Savage .223 just as a 'tagalong gun' (you know, the old kicker that you can drag anywhere in case you see a bold coyote/crow/woodchuck ect that needs a 'correction'. Anyway, I tried about 5 different powders and 25gr of VV133 came out on top. WW Brass (preped- sized, flash hole, length), Fed GM205M primers, NosBT 55gr, equals 3,330fps. A freind of mine with the exact same setup uses once fired military brass and his likes VV133 also, but with 24gr (due to the reduced case capacity of mil brass). PICTURES of 100m, 10shot groups can be seen at http://www.serveroptions.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000186.html , as I didn't feel it necessary to post them here. Give VV133 a try, it is a VERY versatile powder (.223 to .45-70) and very consistent. I have gotten 14 shot, one hole groups on calm days that measure .40 ctc. *Start at 23gr and work up to 25gr if pressure signs allow it.*

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I love reloading, think of all the possibilities!

Although powderburns, I heard that IMR extruded powders were orginially used in the M-16.

I prefer AA2230. I'm not a big fan of extruded powder in small cases. I have had better luck with consistency using ball powder. Just my opinion.

Vihtavuori N 133 fills my needs...

VV N133

26 gr of H335 55gr Ballistic Tip gives one hole groups at 100yds from a Cooper M21VE.

I can't imagine useing anything but H335 and H322 for the 222, 223, or 6x45....and both meter very well.

H-322 get fine accuracy, but H-335 get much better velocity and usually just as good in the accuracy dept...

I'll go with H-335.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com